Daily Stuff

Thank God it was Friday — the final day of Fashion Week. I’m not going to lie: knowing it was almost over had me feeling some pretty mixed emotions. As much as I had thoroughly enjoyed (and was really proud of) the newly transformed, fashionable Boston, I was ready for some serious R&R, and was okay with going back to a more subdued, only half-fashionable city.

I woke up early to blog (it’s all about you, people) and check out the schedule of events for the day. This was it: one more day. I gave my liver and sore feet a pep talk, threw on a little DVF dress and Reiss pumps, and headed off to Living La Vida Moda, Daniela Corte’s luncheon and fashion show at Sel de la Terre. Although long and slightly disjointed (check out my full-length review of the show here), it proved to be a worthy-of-praise event, and let me tell you, a little midday glass of Champagne can do wonders for a hangover. It gave me the little kick I needed to go back, blog some more, and get ready for my last night of Fashion Week party-hopping.

As I stared at the schedule of events for the day, my eyes got blurry and my head started to spin. There were so many damn events, but only one of me. I based my selection on Web sites and event descriptions and gut feelings. But here are some events I didn’t make it to:

Stilettos to Smiles at Gypsy Bar actually looked a like a fun event for a fabulous cause. And they were doing a date auction, which made this lonely little fashionista go “Hmmm.” But alas, it was on the other side of town, so it got nixed from my list. (But not from our photographers' list: click here to check out the pictures.)

I also missed a show put on by Drea Designs, but judging from the pictures on her MySpace page, I’m sure it was ghetto fabulous without me. It’s a Man’s World Image Consulting and Astor & Black Custom Clothiers threw a bash at Saint. Fine suiting, booze, and free styling tips for dudes — I’m pretty sure that would equal a room full of potentially cute boys. Wait, must focus, must remember that only very bad things happen at Saint — like making out with sports players and getting carried out by a friend’s boyfriend. Saint is like an energy vortex to hoochie-mama hell, where good girls get wild and cheeseballs get laid.

The high-ticket Fashion Exposé 2008 was scheduled for the Taj but got moved to the Marriott, confusing the hell out of guests who showed up to the Taj and were told that the event was cancelled. I’m actually not sure if the show ever went on, but I’m sure glad I decided to skip it — the last thing I needed was more confusion and drama in my life.

I was bummed to miss The Art of Fashion, the Mass College of Art and Design’s Meet the Designers Reception. It was all the way in Natick — yes, Natick. Enough said.

Local designer Nigel Ramsay created a “Fashion Lounge” at Vlora and there was a Meet the Designer Event at Luna Boston. We divided and conquered on the latter. Stuff@night staff writer Erin Souza hit this girl-fest filled with manicures, cupcakes, and cocktails and got to chat with Andrew Cotton, creative director of LA-based celeb-fave handbag line Linea Pelle.

I, on the other hand, started off my evening off at This is Not Fashion, a photo exhibit and kick-off event for photographer David Alsdorf at Turtle in the South End. Guests crammed into the tiny store to get a look at Alsdorf’s odd but beautiful photography. The collection uses hand-drawn and photographic superimpositions to “comment on the depersonalization of fashion models.” I didn’t really connect with the profound meaning of it all, but I was impressed with his photography style.

After a quick pit stop at B&G to re-charge and slurp down some Island Creek oysters before the next event (I was hoping that the hottie surfer boys came with the order, but no such luck), I headed over to Emerging Trends 2008, put on by a company called Synergy Events and held at the Jorge Hernandez Cultural Center in the South End.

I strolled into the event past a very, very long line of people and headed straight for the bar. What’s this, you say? The bar doesn’t open for another hour? What? Why? I was so distraught and confused that I had to sit in an empty auditorium for an hour waiting for a very late fashion show to begin.

In fact, the whole thing just seemed unorganized and poorly run. Event reps were easy to spot with their Synergy lanyards hanging around their necks, but none of them really seemed to know what the hell they were doing. Here’s why: as I chatted with some of the guests that had trickled in, I learned that most of the Synergy production staff were volunteers. A waitress dying to turn fashion insider here, a retail wannabe fashion photographer there. These Synergy people were pretty brilliant: let’s gather up all of the people that are dying to get into fashion and/or entertainment and make them our unpaid staff.

Here’s the un-brilliant part about that, kids: lack of experience. About the only person I encountered who really seemed to know what she was doing was Topaz Boutique creative director Stacey Jethroe.

The show finally began about an hour and a half late. Z-list reality-TV-star emcees, blaring booty music (to which the ever-so-fabulous Bobby Garnett, a/k/a Bobby of Boston, boogied down in his seat — as I’ve said before, this man has carte blanche to dress like a pimp and get down when he damn well feels like it), bright spotlights, and clubby lighting equipment — it all set the tone for what I was sure was about to be a very cheesy waste of my time.

And then something unexpected happened: interesting, well-made, wearable looks started making their way down the runway. (What? No bright-orange spandex and hoochie mamas?) First up was designer James Martinez, from NYC via Texas. He showed futuristic blazers and jackets with exposed zippers and built in iPod pockets — so cool. The next couple of mini shows (designers each showed four looks) were also impressive. Sadly, the designers weren’t local, which was sort of a bummer, but they did put on one hell of a show for the crowd. Still, there were a few serious fashion misses, including a poorly constructed, all-white collection. Futuristic and kind of cool — but so not practical for this season.

Bobby and his team did a tribute to men’s vintage looks, sending down adorable models decked out in old-school garb. It was completely and totally on-trend, with collegiate boys, oversized coats and wide-legged pants, riding boots and capes — so chic! Well-edited and well-styled, the show made me want to go vintage shopping immediately. It may have been my favorite of the night.

By and large, most of the designs on the runway were impressive, and the event was worth the wait. Synergy, if you get your act together and step the quality up a notch and the cheese factor down a notch, you just might be on to something.

— Erica Corsano